Condit Dam Removal Update #6

As most folks know, this August marks the last month of Condit Dam’s existence. That really hit home this morning, as I rounded the final rock outcrop on the precipitous trail leading to the west-side Station 1. The demolition contractors were within about 10 vertical feet of intercepting the drain tunnel, and were well below the elevation of the old Cameron Bridge. In a later conversation with Garth Wilson of Kleinfelder, he explained that only 3,000 of the original 30,000 cubic yards of concrete remains to be removed. While a positive figure (i.e., 90% of the material has been removed), work space is becoming more limited as the dam recedes, and there are challenges relating to how the remaining material can be removed from the deepest part of the canyon. To do the job, it sounds like the company will be using carefully controlled explosives to fracture the lowest portion of the dam into large chunks that can be lifted out with a clam-shell bucket mounted to a large crane stationed on the original Cameron Bridge terrace.

Also today, I attempted with some success to use a Canon T2i camera for shooting some video of the ongoing work. It’s not pretty (I am not a video man by any stretch), but if nothing else, it will give folks some understanding of the current work. Of some interest is the third clip from the start, which shows the toppling and breaking of the final section of spillway apron wall. If interested, check out the Vimeo link below…

Really great work, it has been much appreciated by those of us who have visited the area in past years and decades.

Wondering if you would continue to post further developments, I am really looking forward to see the riverbanks become restored and will that be an all-natural process, or will the companies involved in the project be giving nature a hand, by planting trees, shoring up the banks, or whatever?

Either way, it will be interesting to see.

Also, I just can’t get enough information, especially pictures, around the area about the time the dam was built. More history, if you come across it would be a bonus.

Thanks for the question Bob. Cameron Bridge was located where the dam once stood. It was undoubtedly chosen as a bridge site due to the fact that it was such a narrow constriction. Page back to the Condit History # 5 post from September 2011 for a couple of views of bridge…

About the Project

Two remote cameras stationed around Condit Dam will be shooting still images every day for the next several years. When stitched together as a video sequence, these images will provide a never before seen view of large-scale dam removal and river recovery. We'll be posting updates as the project develops, so stay tuned!

Image Usage Information

All images that appear on this site are copyright 2011 Andy Maser & Steve Stampfli unless otherwise noted. Any use of images, video or timelapse video clips is prohibited without permission.